


Bouquets for Beginnings

by GhostTEETH



Series: Doki Doki Literature Club [1]
Category: Doki Doki Literature Club! (Visual Novel)
Genre: Angst, Background Relationships, Childhood Trauma, F/F, Feelings Realization, Flowers, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Gen, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Language of Flowers, Mental Health Issues, Parent Death, Platonic Kissing, Platonic Relationships, Starting Over, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2020-08-11 20:47:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20159851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GhostTEETH/pseuds/GhostTEETH
Summary: They usually fight, ignore, pretend nothing happened, rinse, repeat.Natsuki is suddenly trying to break that cycle. Yuri doesn't know why, but tries to be appreciative and cooperate all the same. It's hard to change, and Yuri is excited to see what happens. Maybe she's had a positive influence on Natsuki after all.Turns out, the reason for the attempted change is a tragedy.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> *arrives late to literature club with a copy of Howl by Allen Ginsberg*
> 
> Hello, it is I. I'm still working on other fics but hey I'm a disaster and I love DDLC so here we go.
> 
> I couldn't find much on Yuri's backstory so I'm kind of making one. Natsuki is also getting some more backstory, so hey! I might add side characters of my own to fluff out the story, but this will mainly focus on Natsuki and Yuri. Sayori and Monika are mostly background characters, but they will be in here!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated this! Just minor grammatical errors and sentenced flow

The bouquet Yuri found on her doorstep was a collection of roses, a bundle of white and yellow ones tied together with a pink ribbon. A small piece of paper rolled into a scroll was tucked into the bouquet, just under the ribbon. Yuri glanced around, wondering if she could catch whoever had left these, but upon seeing the street empty, a sigh left her chest and she picked the bouquet up.  
It was rare for anything to be delivered to the house, other than bills, so when Yuri had heard the knock at the door, she had been rather startled. She’d called for her mother to get the door. Unsurprisingly, Yuri had heard no movement or response, so she’d gotten up to check for herself.  
Now, back inside the house, Yuri gently tapped on the door to her mother’s room. “Mom? Someone left flowers on the doorstep. I think they’re for you,” Yuri said softly.  
Yuri’s mother grunted. “Go ahead and throw them out.”  
“Are you sure? It has a note,” Yuri started.  
“Go ahead and read the note if you’re so interested. Please close the door. My head hurts.” A pause. “I’m sorry.”  
Yuri took a deep breath before sliding the door shut and turning the hall light off. The flowers were rather pretty, Yuri would have felt guilty for throwing them out, so she figured she’d put them in a nice vase for the time being and hang onto them in her room. Maybe they’d help inspiration strike for her next poem. It’d been a while since she’d been able to write, in fact, maybe a month. Not after the fight-  
_No. Don’t think about that._  
Yuri found an old vase, one her father had given her mother before his passing, and filled it halfway with warm water. She untied the ribbon and placed it and the note aside before dropping the flowers into the water. After a moment, she placed it up on the kitchen windowsill. Yes. That added something to the room. Some kind of comfort.  
As she prepared to head back up to her room, she saw the note that had been in with the bouquet, and saw her name written neatly on it.  
Oh. So this was a prank, then? No one ever gave her flowers, and it was rare for anyone other than the club to speak with her. Maybe someone had been put up to do this. But who would have a random person deliver flowers? Could it have been-  
Shaking her head, Yuri dispelled the thought. _She_ wasn’t _that_ cruel.  
Yuri ignored the note and decided she’d go back to her book. No use entertaining the prankster, or pranksters. She sat back down at her desk and swirled her teacup very gently before taking a sip. Her book was something she’d found on accident in an old antique store, and her eye had been drawn to it almost immediately. An old dusty thing with well loved pages and some mild water damage. The cover was in relatively good condition, too, so she had given the first few pages a look through. And, after being absolutely intrigued by the unusual writing style, decided she’d buy it to read more in depth at home. Usually, with a book like this, any distractions that would have drawn her away would be forgotten once she sat back down, but the note left on the counter was in the back of her mind.  
Who could have left the flowers? If it really was a prank, would someone have actually left a note? Yuri was known for having an uncanny ability to recognize handwriting, so it would be risky to leave a note. And roses? Why roses? And in those colors?  
Wait. Didn’t flowers and their colors have meanings?  
Always one for a mystery, Yuri pulled out an old book on flower meanings that her father had left for her. She flipped through, trying to find an answer, wondering if she would find one. And, as the pages turned, she found her answer.  
_No. Impossible._  
The dots began to connect in her head as Yuri scrambled down the stairs to open the note. Her heart stopped in her chest when she saw it on the counter, sunlight draped over it like a blanket on a baby. With shaking hands, Yuri opened the note, trying to control her breathing before she got lightheaded. As she read the note, she began to silently cry.

_Dear Yuri,_

_I’m really sorry about the other day. I shouldn’t have said those things. I didn’t realize they’d upset you so much either. Guess I should do more thinking about what I say._   
_I really do mean it, though. I worry about you a lot, and I think it’s unfair to yourself to continue to beat yourself up over your family situation. It wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t have done anything._   
_Anyway, I hope you like the flowers. They’re probably not your style, but I know you like finding the meaning in things, so I figured you’d at least like that. I hope you’re doing ok._

_\- Natuski_

Yuri sat down at the table, putting her head in her hands.  
Nearly a month ago, Yuri and Natsuki had gotten into a fight. Much bigger than their usual fights. It started over their poetry, as usual. Natsuki had made a comment about how she believed Yuri should try to be more plain with her words instead of burying the meaning, and Yuri had gotten upset, saying that digging for the meaning was what made poetry beautiful, and that Natsuki wouldn’t know anything about that.  
It had continued to escalate, and eventually it came to Natsuki yelling at Yuri about how she just wanted her to try to be open about her feelings instead of making it so hard to figure out what to say. That she was only trying to help. That it was difficult to know what to do when Yuri wouldn’t even try to tell Natsuki when she was upset and would, instead, jump to making petty jabs. Yuri had said something about how Natsuki wouldn’t understand and couldn’t help since Natsuki couldn’t even talk about her father.  
Natsuki had gone silent before leaving in tears.  
And now, Natsuki had delivered flowers of friendship and new beginnings with an apology letter, and Yuri had never felt more undeserving.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The club was out for a week, and Natsuki isn't at the meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, but hi! I'm working on this again! It's been very difficult to look at this fic since I first wrote it, as things have changed in my personal life, but I have new ideas for it!
> 
> As a warning, after this chapter, it will get pretty heavy. I'll put trigger warnings in the notes here, however.

"Hi, everyone! Sorry that I couldn't be here last week," Sayori said, hugging everyone as she went around the room.  
"It's no problem. We decided not to have a meeting so everyone could recharge their creativity, anyways. Didn't want to get burnt out!" Monika laughed and squeezed Sayori. "Are you feeling better?"  
"Yeah! I had an interaction with my meds, so at least I know not to drink tea again!"  
Yuri smiled up at Sayori. "I'm glad you're feeling better. Though, no tea at all?"  
"Uh… I'm not sure. I wasn't really listening to the doctor." Sayori looked away and picked at her sleeve, giggling softly.  
Yuri rolled her eyes, but decided not to comment on Sayori's issue of never listening to anything. At least she was back and feeling better.  
As she pulled her journal out of her bag, Yuri noticed that Natsuki wasn't there.  
_Natsuki is always the first one here. Does she not want to see me? Was she lying about wanting to make up? She hasn't been to any meetings since we fought… did she leave the club…?_  
Monika sat down at a desk and stretched. "So, I'm thinking we could experiment in writing epic poems. We were talking about The Illiad in class earlier, and I thought it'd be a fun exercise for us. Oh! And I got extra pens for everyone." Monika tossed a pen to Sayori, who caught it with relative ease, before handing one to Yuri. Sayori lined up her pens next to her journal, tapping each one before clapping her hands together.  
A silence fell over the room, weighing down on everyone, each one of them not wanting to speak up first. But after a minute, Yuri cleared her throat.  
"Is… is Natsuki coming to the meeting?" she asked softly, flinching.  
"I was wondering that. I texted her earlier to tell her I'd be here, but she didn't respond." Sayori said, turning to Monika.  
Monika pressed her lips together as she shifted in her chair. "Natsuki hasn't been at school for a few days. I heard from her about a week ago. I guess something has been happening in her family, but she didn't want to talk about it." Monika paused. "Well… she said she couldn't talk about it."  
"Oh."  
The air ached, and Yuri felt anxiety raise in her chest.  
"I believe her mother has been sickly for a while," Yuri whispered.  
Monika blinked in surprise, before speaking again. "I didn't know that. I hope she's okay. Maybe Natsuki can't talk because there's too many unknowns?"  
"That would make sense."  
Pens fell to the ground as Sayori leaped up, her bow falling out of her hair. "What if we wrote her letters? To give to Natsuki next time she's here? I'm sure it'd cheer her up!"  
Yuri grinned. "I'm sure Natsuki would appreciate it as well."  
The three of them talked excitedly, plotting the best way to write the letters and how to cheer both Natsuki and her mother up. Monika kept track of the ideas on a notepad, hoping to give each of them a copy so they could maybe write a couple letters.

That night, Yuri wrote drafts upon drafts of letters for Natsuki's mother, stressing over the imperfection of each one.  
"Your friend's mom is sick, just get it right!" Yuri scolded herself once again. She stared at the papers on her desk before throwing her head back and sighing heavily. "At least all my homework's done…"  
Downstairs, she could hear her mother talking to her uncle. She thought about asking if she could speak with him, she never really did, but knew that it wouldn't end well. Especially after the last time she'd asked. Her mother didn't usually get angry, not like that.  
The roses sat on the windowsill, neatly displayed with the note rolled up next to it. Yuri stared at them, her mind foggy.  
She turned back to her desk and wrote another letter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is always welcome <3

**Author's Note:**

> Yellow Roses mean the promise of a new beginning  
White roses mean a new beginning, a fresh start
> 
> (The meanings I chose for this chapter.)


End file.
